Air-ship.



R. SGHMIEUHEN AIR SHIP.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 16,1908. 931,225. Patented Aug. 17, 1909. V v 5SHEETSSHEET 1.

Witnesses:

Attorneys.

R. SGHMIEGHEN.

AIR SHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT.16, 1908.

Patented Aug. 17. 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

r 0 t n e V n Witnesses 0 L Hl ldlh II -P Ill! ll K ll SGHMIEGHEN';

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1908.

Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Inventor:

Witnesses Attorneys.

R. SGHMIEGHEN.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.16,1908.

931 ,225, Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

Witnesses: Inventor:

Attorneys.

R. SGHMIEGHEN.

AIR SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.16, 1908.

931,225. Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

Witnesses iijm Attorneys.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REINHOLD SOHMIEOHEN, OF NEWELL, IOWA.

AIR-SHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1909.

Application filed September 16, 1908. Serial No. 453,305.

ings, forms a full, clear, and exact specifica tion, which will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains, to make and use thesame.

This invention has general referenceto air-ships; and it consists,essentially, in the novel and peculiar combination of elements and partsand details of construction, as hereinafter first fully set forth anddescribed, and then pointed out in the claiins.

The object of this invention is the produc tion of an air-ship, heavierthan air, which shall be capable of rising directly from the ground, bedirigible so as to travel in any direction, be capable of floating uponand traveling in water, and to rise from Water into the air. It shallalso be so constructed that when upon the ground it shall be fullprotected from the effects of storm an'd'hig winds.

' Heretofore an air-ship has not yet been developed that is capable offloating and moving in both, air and water. These results I propose toaccomplish by the construction hereinafter to be fully disclosed, andwhich is shown and illustrated in the drawings already referred to andin which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the airship afloat in theair. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the air-ship anchored on theground.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the air-ship, and Fig. 4 a side elevation of thesame. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional elevation in line a a of Fig. 4,looking toward the forward end of the airship. Fig. 6 is a plan of aportion of the air-ship illustrating the construction of thecyclone-producers, taken in line b b of Fig. 7 the cyclone-producershown to the left of said figure having its" interior mechanism partlyremoved to illustrate underlying parts. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectionalelevation in line 0 c of Fig; 6; Fig. 8 is a transverse-sectionalelevation of the air-ship in line I! (I of Fig.3. Fig. 9 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of the cyclone-producer showing the fanmechanism when placed in an inclined position. Fig. 10 is atransversesectional elevation of the inner cylinder of thecyclone-producer illustrating details of construction.

Like parts are designated by corresponding symbols of reference in allthe figures.

First briefly describing this air-ship, it consists, of a metallic,gas-tight, body of rectangular contour having a curved roof projectingbeyond the sides of the ship. This body is, at its forward end,downwardly and rearwardly inclined, a portion of this forward end beinga separate part hinged to the main portion of the body and forming whatI term the head. On both sides, and even with the projecting portion of,and attached to the longitudinal 'edgesof the roof are hinged hollow,gas-tight, metallic bodies of zi -zag contour forming, as it were,wings, w iile to the rear end of the main body there hinged, .even' withthe projecting portion of the roof a hollow, metallic, gas-tight bodywhich I designate the. tail of the air-ship.

In the interior of'the main body there are a series of fans which Ishall hereafter name cyclone-producers, which fans are operated by asuitable motor also located insaid'main body. These fans orcyclone-producers are pivoted so as to be capable of changing from avertical, to a horizontal position, whereby the air-ship may be causedto rise vertically when the cyclone-producers stand and operate in avertical position, or to travel at any desired inclination, orhorizontally, according as the cyclone-produce? are inclined more orless toward, or into a o'rizontal 'position.

The lower surfaces of the wings, as well as their outer sides are formedinto a series ofinclined planes which assist in sustaining the air-shipin the 'air, hydrogen gas being used in thehollow bodies to make theair-ship nearly self-sustaining or floating in the air, the shi beingdesigned so that its wei ht, when lled with gas, shall be but 'sliglitlyheavier than air, so that, should for any reason, the propellingapparatus'become inoperative, the air-ship will slowly descend, the.in'a'in body with its extended wings and tail forming, as it were. anairresistingbody which would'prevent a rapid descent of t'he airshipwhen disabled.

A in the drawings represents and designates the main body of thisair-ship. It is of rectangular contour having a roof 2, which is curvedas shown, and which projects beyond the sides 3, a distance equal to thethickness of the wings D, so that when the latter are folded down uponthe sides of the air-ship they are even with the outer edges ofthe roof.The forward end of this body A is downwardly and rearwardly inclined at4, whereby an inclined plane is produced which assists in the floatingof the airship. A portion, C, of this forward end of the air-ship isseparately hinged to the body at 5, and forms the head of the air-ship.When anchored to the ground, this head C is turned downwardly, as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 4 and also in perspective, in Fig. 2, whereby areverse inclined plane 6 is produced which, in case of a storm, tends topush and hold the air-ship to the ground to prevent damages to thestructure. Means for raising and lowering the head C, as well as thewings B and the tail D are provided, and shown in Fig. 3, and consist ofa longitudinal shaft, 7, which carries a series of winding drums 8, overwhich ropes 9 are wound that reach, and are attached .to, the wings B ata number of difier'ent places, while further rope-sheaves 11 and 13, andpulleys 12, guide a rope 10, to the head C, and a rope 14", members B, Gand D may be raised andlowered and held in position by these ropes.

D is the tail. It is a metallic, hollow body of substantiallyrectangular contour, the upper surface 14, or roof, as it were, beingcurved substantially the same as the roof 2 of the main body. The underside of this tail is concave, as shown at 15, the object of which willhereinafter ap ear. This tail D is hinged to the rear-wal 16, of themain body A, in a line level with the pro jecting ortion of the roof,and when the airship is oating or moving in the air, this tail is slihtly inclined downwardly, as illustrate -in Fig. 4, while at times itmay be desired to retain it in a horizontal position. The main body, aswell as the head, wings, and the tail are preferably made from aluminumso that the air-ship is as light as possible, and suitable filler-plugs,17, are provided, as shown in Fig. 8, through which hydrogen-gas isintroduced to inflate, as it were, these bodies. A man-hole 18,.Fig. 8,havin a suitable closure, bein also provide through which access to t einterior of the main ody A may be had should this become necessary. .Itis evident that the walls of the metallic bodies require bracing toprevent them from distortion, and while at this time, I do not show thespecific details of such bracing, I have illustrated in Figs. 5 and 8 aconstruction consisting of fine, but extremely strong wires, 19',attached to the vato the tail D, whereby these will force airdownwardly.

rious parts. This system of bracing does not at present form a part ofthis application, and I do not, therefore, refer to the same morespecifically.

The bottom of the main body A, consists of a series of hemisphericalshells 20, which with their interior mechanism forms thecyclone-producers E, and this interior mechbeing alike in all thecyclone-producers, I shall hereinafter describe them in the singular,and refer particularly to Figs. 6 to 10. Longitudinally, and in thecenter line of-the body A there is located a main driving shaft 21,which is suitably supported in bearings, not shown, while transverselyand centrally underneath each of the cyclone-producers is a transverseshaft 22, which main shaft and transverse shafts are connected togetherby means of spiral gears 23. Each of these transverse shafts 22 revolvesin a tube 24, formed integral with a yoke 25,'an d a shaft 26, and alsoa vertical tubular sleeve'27. On the outer ends these shafts 22 carrymiter gear wheels 28, engaging similar gear wheels 29, which latter gearwheels are fastened to a tubular sleeve 30, which, at its upper end, isconnected with a tubular sleeve 31, placed upon the sleeve 27 andrevolving thereupon. To the outer pe-' riphery of this tubular sleeve 30are secured spirally formed vanes 32, the outer edges of which aresecured to a cylindrical shell 33, so that when the miter gear wheel 29is revolved, the vanes 32 and the cylindrical shell 33, will revolvetogether.

Centrally through the sleeve 30. passes a shaft 34 which has at itslower end a bevel gear wheel 35 which engages a bevel-pinion 36, whichis secured to the shaft 22 and thereby revolves the shaft 34, but in adirecanism -tion opposite to that in which the cylinder 33 rotates. Tothe upper end of this central shaft 34 is secured a spider, composed offour (more or less) curved spokes 37 which are bent to a semi-circle andare-in close proximity to the inner surface of the hemispherical shell20. Their lower ends are fastened to a ring 37, and a further ring 38,is secured to,these spokes 37 about midway between the lower r1ng 37 andthe apex of the semicircular spokes. To these two rings are securedvanes, 39, which are inclined in the opposite direction of the'vanes 32,and revolving in the opposite direction To the outer periphery of thecylinder 33, there are fastened, near its upper end, further vanes, 40,which, however, incline in the direction opposite that of the vanes 39and 32.

Uplon the inner end of the tubular sleeve 24, t ere is secured aworm-wheel 41 which is engaged by a worm 43, located upon a horizontallydisposed shaft 42, which shaft, when revolved by means of a hand-wheel44, placed upon the shaft 45, carrying at its lower end a worm 46,engaging a worm wheel 47, rotates the shaft 412 and with it the entiremechanism in the interior of the hemispheres 20 to move the same fromthe vertical position shown in Figs. 6 and 7, to an inclined orhorizontal position, as the case may be, an inclined position beingshown in Fig. 9.

I will here state that there are four sections of horizontal shafts 43,viz., two connect with the forward one-half of all the cyclone-producersand two sections connect with the rearwardly located series ofcycloneproducers so that either the-forwardly, or

rearwardly located cyclone-producers may be inclined independently orthe other sets. The object of thus arranging the cycloneproducers is toassist in the flight of the machine and to direct its course, as will befurther explained. It will also be observed that either of the foursections or series of cyclone-producers may be independently inclined.

F, Figs. 5, 7 and 8, is themotor. It is of any approved design andpreferabl (though not necessarily) of the interim combustion type. Uponits crank shaft 48, there is located a sprocket-wheel 49, and upon themain driving shaft 21, there is placed a similar sprocket-wheel 50, achain belt 51 connecting the two sprocket-wheels 49 and 50 andcommunicating rotary motion to the main* shaft; a tank 52, Fig. 8, beinglocated conveniently in the air-ship to contain, and supply, the motor Fwith the required liquid or gaseous fuel. l

B are the wings. These wings are metallic, gas-tight bodies, each ofwhich is composed of a series of shells triangular in transversesection, and running obliquely from the front to the rear of theair-ship, thus forming a series of separate compartments 53, allconnected to a common roof 14 which forms, as already stated, the upperface of the wings when extended, and cover the vertical sides of theair-ship when lowered. The forward ends 54, of these wings, owing to theoblique position of the compartments 53, forms an inclined plane in thedirection from front to rear, and from the front-edge downwardly,thereby offering to the movement of the airship the least resistance,While the downwardly and rearwardly inclined surfaces 56, of thecompartments 53, form a series of inclined planes, and thereby assist inthe maintenance of the floating abilit of the airship. The sides of thewingsl are also serrated as shown at 55, so that, when the wings areclosed or folded down and the air-ship is floating and moving forward inwater, the inclined surfaces act as inclined planes to effect a partialraising of the air-ship in the water.

In order to carry passengers upon the airship, there is in the main bodya longitudinal passage 59, leading from the rear-wall 16 orward to, andterminating behind the first forward set of hemispheres. This passage ishermetically closed on all, sides except where it'ends at the rear-wall,where there is I an ample opening through which entrance to the passagesand the engine room, 56, may be had, and, through which an ample air-supply for the passengers and the motor is had. A ladder or steps, 57, leadfrom this passage into the engine room 56, and from thence and through asuitable shaft or tube 58, a circular stairs 60 leads to the roof 2 ofthe main body, thus providing for ventilation as well as furnishing anexit for the passengers when the air-ship is floating upon water andwhen the lower passage 59 may be partly submerged. This is an essentialelement in my present construction of air-ships which, itwill be readilyobserved, is capable of floating upon water and is but slightlysubmerged therein, and, therefore, afiords ample protection to thepassengers from drowning. e If desired, a trap-door-may be located inthe floor. of the engine room 56 to prevent passengers from entering theengine room and possible interference with the machinery therein, or theengine-men and employees of the air-ship, which door, in cases ofemergency, may be quickly opened to afford an exit for the passengers.

Across the rear-wall of the main body A there is a gallery 61, Figs. 1and 4, upon which passengers may place themselves. They are thusprotected from the rays of the sun, rain, or wind by the overhangingtail D which, as it were, forms a shelter-roof over the gallery, and inorder that, when necessary, this tail may fold close to the rearwall theunder side of the tail is concave in form to afford ample space for thegallery 61 and whatever passengers may be thereon. One of the mainobjections to air-ships of present construction is their inability towith stand storms, and the recent destruction of Count Zeppelinsair-ship was caused when resting u on "the ground where a heavy stormrapidly destroyed the ship. I To avoid such destruction, I provide theair-ship with a series of legs 62, which project downwardly from thelower surface of the main body A and will force themselves into theground and form anchors. As a further means to prevent strong currentsof wind lifting the ship from the ground I provide a suflicient numberof ropes 63, which are at tached with one end to the roof 2, and whichhave at the other end screw-anchors or other suitable means, 64,whichwhen forced into the ground will effectually hold the air-ship down. Andin order that any open spaces below the air-ship may be readily closed,I place upon the upper surface 14, of the Wings, grooved bars 65, withinwhich are placed sheet metal plates 66, which, normally I -lie upon saidupper surface and may be locked thereto in any suitable manner. IVhenreleased and the wings folded in, as they will be when the machine isanchored to the ground, theseplates may be released, when they willslide down or may bepushed down upon the ground so as to close the spacebelow the wings and prevent the storm from acting upon the lowersurfaces of the airship and its probable lifting up.

I shall now proceed to describe the action of the cyclone producer,assuming that the motor I! has been started and all the fans or vanesset into rotation, theinnermost fan 32, being that within thecylindrical shell 33, being rotated in the proper direction throws theair enterin the shell from'above, downwardly as does a so the fan 39,the air entering the cylinder passing thereto beneath the innerhemispherical surface where frictional resistance to the moving air uponsaid surface asserts a lifting influence upon said hemispherical shell.The upper fan 40 which revolves with the cylinder, but acts in contradirect-ion, throws air passing into the hemispherical shell, againstthis shell upwardly so that its frictional influence is also assertedthereupon and also the air sup plied from the inner fan 39. There is,notwithstanding the fact that the air by the outer fan 39 is thrown orforced downwardly, nevertheless, an upward current in the space betweenthe cylinder .33 and the hemispherical shell which asserts itsfrictional influence upon the outer fans and its lifting influencethereon.

\V hen in a vertical position, the action of all the cyclone producerswill lift the airship vertically until a sufficient elevation is reachedfor horizontal movement. To aceon'iplish this, all the cyclone-producersare forwardly" inclined. in the manner already stated so that the actionof the cycloue-pro ducel's is obliquely to the direction of movement ofthe ship, part of said action being absorbed in maintaining floating,and the remainder in forward movement of the airship. If it is desiredto change the direction of movement either upward or downward, theforward or the rearward series-of cyclone-producers alone are changed inposition which will cause a change in the vertical direction in a mannerreadily comprehended. So, in order to steer the ship to describe acircle or other deviation from a straight course, either one or theother of the forward or rearward, or both forward and rearwardcyclone-producers are changed in their angular position. For instance,(using nautical terms) if it is desired to turn the bow (in thisinstance the head C) to port, the starboard forward series ofcyclone-producers will be slightly deeper inclined than the port series.The starboard ship are fully protected series of cyclone-producersbeing, therefore, the more powerful, will cause the head to swing toport. This may be assisted by slightly inclining the rearwardport-series of cyclone-producers, While a reverse movement of thesecyclone-producers will cause the ship to assume a contrary direction;

Should, for any reason, the air-ship land in a body of water, thecyclone-producers when inclined, act as propellers to cause the forwardmovement of the ship, but as soon as the cyclone-producers are placedinto the vertical position, the air-ship will immediately rise out ofthe water and assume its flight in the air. As an additional aid to theair-ship, a rudder 67, Fig. 1, may be placed near the stern of the shipbelow the floor, in a manner readily comprehended. I have heretoforedescribed how the cyclone-producers, when standing in a. verticalposition, are capable of lifting the air-ship vertically. It will hencefollow, that if these cyclone-producers are operated at a reduced speed,it is possible to maintain the air-ship stationary at any position inthe air. If a current of air should have a tendency to move the air-shiphorizontally, and it is desired to maintain a fixed position, the shipis headed into the air-current and the cyclone -producers slightlyinclined, sufficiently so to overcome the action of the aircurrent, andthe cyclone-producers rotated at a speed to maintain its stationaryposition.

It will be further observed that in case of steering a storm. when theair-ship is lowered and anchored to the ground to avoid-any damages thatmight result from the inclemencies of the weather. the passengers withinthe airagainst any injury or discomfort while thus interrupted in theiraerial passage.

It is evident that in order to secure sufficient buoyancy, all the partsof the ship should be made as light as possible, consistcut with therequired strength, and for this reason aluminum is very extensivelyemployed in this air-ship.

In describing the various details of this air-ship I have shown andexplained the preferred forms of construction as far as necessary tospecify an operative device. I desire it understood that these detailsmay, however. be varied in many ways without departing from myinvention.

I have heretofore, in connection with the cyclone-producers, mentionedthe semi-circular bars. as a spider which has the circular or annularbands or rings 37 and 38 to connect the spider or spokes securelytogether, and thereby to form, as it were, a cage with.-

in which the respective fan-wings are located, so that, in claiming asan element a cage it is understood that any suitable bar, orrod-construction, within wh ch the same:

ducers therein and connected with said mo tor, said cyclone-producersbeing provided with means for changing their operative position from avertical to an inclined position whereby the air-ship is enabled to risevertically and move in a horizontal or any inclined direction and changeits course of movement.

2. An air-ship consisting of metallic, hollow, gas-tight bodies adaptedto retain a fluid lighter than air a motor in one of said bodies, aplurality of rotating fans inclosed in shells open at the bottom, saidshells forming an integral part of the hermetically sealed main body;means for causing a vertical movement of'said bodies in the air and forpropelling said bodies in any other direc tion,'by changing the axis ofrotation of the fans within said shells from a vertical to an inclinedposition, said means being actuated by said motor.

3. An air-ship consisting of a metallic, hollow, gas-tight mainbodyadapted to retain a fluid lighter than air; wings hinged to saidmain body and consisting of a series of hollow independent containers, ahead hinged to said bod and adapted to be folded downwardly, a ta'hinged to the rear-end of said main body, said tail, wings and headbeing hollow bodies adapted to retain gas or other fluid lighter thanair, propelling mechanism formoving said bodies 1n any direction, and amotor for actuating said propelling mechanism. p

4. In an airship, means for propelling the ship in every direction, saidmeans comprising a series of fan-wheels located within inclosuresforming a part of the sealed main body and open at their lower ends, and

means for changing the axial line of rotation of said whee s from avertical to a horizontal position, whereby the ship is enabled to movein every direction, as specified.

5. In an air-ship, a metallic, gas-ti ht,

hollow body; an adjustable head on the orward end of said body,a-movable tail bin (1 to the rear-end of said body, and mova le wings onthe side of said body, said bodies being capable of retaining a fiuidmedium lighter than air; a motor in said body; a series of rotating fansin sa1d bod and 1n closed in a hemispherical shell. sal rotating fansbeing provided with means for changing their position as specified.

6. 1:: an air-ship, a rotating fan system, consisting, essentially, of ahemispherical shell; a cylinder centrally within said hemisphere; spiralvanes within said cylinder and secured thereto; other spiral vanesattached to the outer surface of said cylinderfa cage; a series ofspiral vanes attached to said cage, and means for rotating the variousvanes as described.

7. In an air-ship a rotating fan system consisting, essentially, of ahemispherical shell; a cylinder centrally located within said shell;spiral vanes within said cylinder and secured thereto, other spiralvanes at* tached to the outer surface of said cylinder; a cage; a seriesof spiral vanes attached to said cage; means for rotating the variousvanes, and further means for enabling the axis of rotation of all thefans to be changed from a vertical to an inclined position;

8. In an air-ship, the vcombination with the main body, hermeticallysealed and charged with gas lighter than air, of a multiple series offan motors, said motors being located within inclosures forming a] partof the main body and being operated in unison but each of the series offanmotors being adapted to change their axis of rotation from a verticalto an inclined position whereby the air-ship may be steered by changingthe inclination of one'or more of the sets of fan-motors, as specified.

9. In an air-ship a pair of wings, each consisting of a series ofhollow'b'odies of triangular cross-section, and united toa com-. 1'nonroof, the forward wall of said bodies being rearwardly inclined, wherebya series of inclined planes are produced, said hollow bodies beingconstructed to retain a medium lighter than air.

10. In an air-ship, a main body, a pair of wings hinged to said mainbody, and a series of plates upon said wings, said plates being.arranged to slide in grooved members secured to the roof of said wingsand to be pulled outwardly to form extensions of said wings, asdescribed.

11. In an air ship, means for propelling the ship in every direction,comprising a multiple series of fan-wheels located within inclosuresforming a part of the'sealed main body and open at-their lower ends,means for changing the axial line of rotation of the several series offan-wheels independently of one another, from a vertical to a horizontalposition, whereby the airship is enabled to move in every direction bymanipulating.

the several series of fan-wheels, as specified. 12 Means for inclosingand anchoring an air-ship upon the ground consisting of a main-body; ahead adapted to be folded down, a tail adapted to be folded against therear-end of said main body; wings adapted to be folded against the sidesof said body, extensions on said Wings adapted to cover the spacebetween the Wings and the ground, and anchoring ropes having anchorsadapted to be forced into the round, whereby the entire air-ship istightly inclosed from all sides and ends, and securely anchored to theground, as stated.

13. An air-ship embodying the following elements: means for causing. theair-ship to rise vertically in the air; means for steering the air-shipand to cause it to assume any direction of movement; means forsustaining the air-ship in a floating andoperative condition in water;means for propelling the air-ship while in water; means for causing itto rise vertically 01 1t of the water to resume ts fl1ght in air; meansfor securely anchormg the air-shlp upon ground, and means for inelosingthe air-ship to protect it from the elements, the latter means being allsecured ti, and forming a part of, the complete airs 1p.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my inventlon I have hereuntoset my hand in the presence of two subscribing WltIlBSSGSr R.SCHMIECHEN.

Attest:

MICHAEL J. STARK, C. KNUDSEN.

